


The Night Wolves

by orphan_account



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-20
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-08-09 21:58:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7818817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three of the nine lay dead, and now Altair prepares to kill the fourth, Abul Nuquod, Merchant King of Jerusalem. He arrives at the city's gates late at night on horseback, and catches glimpses of mysterious creatures that seem to be following him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Night Wolves

It had been a long day, and Altair was tired. Jerusalem was close now, and the thought that he'd have to investigate and kill the Merchant King did not help to put his mind at ease. It seemed his horse was just as exhausted as he was; it was plodding along slowly, letting out quiet, shrill neighs from time to time.

Jerusalem's gates finally came into view. Altair could not help but feel relief at finally getting a proper rest. It seemed that the sight of the stables encouraged his horse, too, as it increased its pace to a steady trot.

About fifty meters or so from the stables, however, it stopped dead in its tracks, hooves planted firmly into the ground, looking around nervously.

Altair frowned and nudged the horse with his knees. It did not budge.

He heard soft noises, carried with the wind. Padded paws meeting soft ground. Altair glanced around him, trying to locate the source of the noise.

A large shape entered his field of vision. It had a canine form, with a large mane and bushy tail, covered in snowy white fur. It had a short snout, and its jaws were parted, revealing sharp carnivore teeth and a pink tongue hanging out of its mouth slightly in a pant.

The pointed ears were lying back on this creature's head in a relaxed composure. Altair saw more of these creatures following: some had brown fur, some black, some a beautiful golden-blond.

They were circling his black horse. Did they intend to kill it, and take it for meat? It was obvious that these animals were hungry carnivores, and although it did not look as if they were starving, they would surely not pass up the opportunity of a single, large horse.

But they did not edge closer, nor did they snarl threateningly, or bare their teeth. They showed no sign of danger at all. They seemed positively playful.

Although their behavior was baffling, Altair could not spare any time to watch them. He nudged his horse again, but it refused to move, too petrified of these things circling it.

Altair huffed in annoyance, and as he dismounted, the word for these creatures formed in his brain.  _Wolves._

Dogs were commonly for hunting, guarding areas and ridding a certain place of rats or other small rodents. Their ancestor, the wolf, had a reputation for being a ruthless killer. Once it had its prey in its sights, it would not let go.

But what Altair saw here opposed the popular beliefs so much. The wolves almost looked as if they were smiling as they trotted around him, giving shrill yelps and barks. Altair even saw a young cub with fuzzy grey fur, following a dark grey she-wolf closely, who he guessed was its mother.

Altair walked forwards and slowly, calmly, made his way out of the circle of wolves, keeping his movements slow and relaxed so as not to startle the wolves into attacking. Normally, a wolf would not dream of attacking an adult, but they would surely be more daring in these vast numbers.

The wolves let him through, though somewhat reluctantly. They followed him towards Jerusalem's gates. They made it extremely difficult to get through the guard post discreetly, with their playful yelping and yowling. Altair had no idea how to get rid of them without angering them.

Eventually, they proved useful, however. One of the guards suddenly realized that they were wolves, not dogs, and shouted to his fellow guardsmen. They then drew their weapons and focused on killing as many of the dreaded wolves as possible.

This proved a useful distraction and allowed Altair to enter the city with ease. He climbed onto the roof and entered the Jerusalem Bureau.

'Safety and peace, Brother,' he greeted Malik.

'Why do you trouble me today?'

'Al Mualim has ordered the death of Abul Nuquod, Merchant King. What can you tell me of him?'

After Altair had obtained the information he required, Altair stepped into the main room of the Bureau to rest before starting his investigation. He laid down to sleep for a few hours.

He was woken by a yell. Altair looked up, his hearing and vision fuzzy from having just woken. He saw Malik vaguely backed against the wall, a look of pure terror in his eyes.

'How in the name of Allah did  _that_ get in there?' Malik shouted.

Altair looked more closely, his head clearing, and saw it. The white she-wolf that he'd first seen following him.

He would never have thought that many of the wolves would have survived the fight with the guards. And he was certainly surprised that it had managed to climb the roofs and get up here.

The she-wolf made no sign of aggression. She simply stared at Malik with those large, dark eyes, bushy white tail folded neatly over her paws. Altair called out in a shrill whistle, and the she-wolf looked towards him. She trotted towards him and nuzzled his hand gently with her nose.

'Get rid of that,' Malik hissed. 'Do you know what that is, Altair? That is a wolf. I will not stand having a wolf in my bureau.'

'Why do you protest the presence of a wolf in your bureau?' Altair questioned. 'She could act as a perfect guard. No one would dare infiltrate a place which had a wolf inside of it.'

'No one infiltrates this place anyway because they cannot find it,' Malik retorted. 'Get her out of here or I'll do it myself.'

As if she'd understood his words, the white she-wolf raised her hackles and bared her teeth at Malik.

'See?' the Dai said in satisfaction. 'Wolves are dangerous creatures. I don't know how it got here, or why it seems to like you, just get rid of it.'

Altair tried, tugging lightly at the she-wolf's chest, but the beautiful white creature didn't budge. She laid down right in the middle of the pillows, glaring at Malik with a gaze that was almost challenging.

He considered. People liked a stubborn dog, who would refuse to give up on their prey, so would the same not count for a stubborn wolf?

**Author's Note:**

> I may be making a sequel for this sometime in the future. Thanks for taking the time to read this as always :D


End file.
